If You Knew Me
by Lady-Nerevari
Summary: A Demonflame rewrite Demon has spent seven years in exile... what happens when she returns?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_If you knew the tale behind the talons, would you still allow me within your walls? If you knew the past that shapes my present, would you still say you hold me as a friend?_

_If you knew me… would you still trust me?_

_Would you still allow me within the sheltering walls of Spargus City, still call me a Wastelander; still think of me as a person and not as a beast?_

_How often I have pondered those questions, and I still have no answers. Will I ever find answers? Nay, I think not. _

_So I ask you, in my desperation…_

_If you knew me, would you trust me?_

_If you knew the true creature behind the scars, the claws and the tail, would you still call me friend?_

_If you knew me, would you forgive me?_


	2. Once Betrayed, Always Vengeful

**A few things **before I begin:

1) I don't own nothin', except Demon, Raleigh and the use of Shadow Eco. If you want to use them, by all means go ahead because I really don't mind.

2) This story WILL NOT follow the games, or the characters… it wasn't really written with Fanfic in mind. I wrote this for my own amusement. If you don't like it, that's your problem because quite frankly I'm having fun writing this…(messing with characters is always amusing.)

3) If you flame me, I will only laugh at you. As I stated before, in this story I really don't care what all you peoples think. (Mwuahaha…) Well, in actuality I care, but like I said, for me, not really for Fanfic…

**Chapter One**

**Once Betrayed, Always Vengeful**

"_Raleigh… I think I'm wounded," The elven youth mumbled, holding a hand to her chest. The fluffy shadow panther cub she addressed came forward, nose twitching slightly as if expecting blood. "No… there's no cut. But it hurts inside…"_

The rangy she-elf dubbed Demon came out of sleep in an instant, wrenching a glinting dagger from somewhere underneath her thin blanket. Her eyes were wide, disoriented and half-panicked, as if expecting some enemy to be holding a gun-barrel to her scarred throat.

"Demon, no one's there," The shadow panther Raleigh growled from his animal hide near the entrance to the shallow cave he shared with Demon. These nightmares were a frequent occurrence for the semi-deranged she-elf, and typically ended with her attacking someone or something in her confusion. Raleigh's steel-grey coat was riddled with white scar-traces from these nightmares.

"Thanks Raleigh," Demon mumbled, reluctantly sheathing her dagger and curling once again onto her side on the flat chunk of red-orange sandstone that served as her bed. Puzzlement, anger and fear glinted in her eyes, hinting to the furious internal battle raging within Demon's soul.

Demon's eyes were pure crimson, her hair deepest ebon streaked with red at the temples. Her strongly muscled and tanned arms were crisscrossed with white scars, matching the four claw-marks over Demon's right eye. Blades adorned her wrists and shoulders, as well as the tip of her prehensile tail. Dressed in a high-collared sleeveless shirt, loose pants tucked into boots and a tattered sand-colored cloak, Demon looked for all the world like the desert Marauders she tried so desperately to emulate.

But those bloody ruby eyes set her apart. They always had, they always would. Demon knew this and fought it desperately, if vainly.

Demon fell again into a restless, fitful sleep. Raleigh watched his friend, settling his heavy head against his large paws. The desert nights were eerily quiet this far from Spargus, especially when there were no Marauders around to shatter the stillness.

As he lay awake Raleigh reflected on all the hard times he had endured at Demon's side. Given an opportunity to go back and undo everything that he'd undergone, Raleigh would do it all over again if it meant spending one more day walking the shadowed trails beside Demon. Despite the pain, the loneliness and the mind-shattering changes, there was no place the shadow panther would rather be than right where he was.

The slightest hint of dawn was finally lightening the sky when Demon stepped into the wan half-light with Raleigh at her side. The she-elf raised her head to the sky and loosed a feral screech that was her greeting to the new day. It served a double purpose as a warning to any and all listening Marauders: clear out NOW, if you value your pathetic life. Raleigh added his own rumbling cry to the eerie scream, bouncing his gravelly voice off the sandstone cliffs.

First business of the day: food. Neither the elf nor the panther had eaten anything for four days now, and while this wasn't anything unusual or unpleasant for the pair, most creatures get hungry after four days of brutal physical work without a meal. Now… what to eat?

Demon pulled her crude crossbow from its comfortable place behind her bed, outfitting herself with a round three dozen bolts and her skinning knife. One of the advantages of this little cave, other than its close proximity to a permanent and very precious water source, was that it was near a Metal Head nest. And, when properly skinned and roasted, Metal Heads made rather appetizing meals.

Twenty minutes later Raleigh came to a skidding halt outside the Metal Head nest. Demon slipped blithely off his narrow back, casually loading her crossbow and aiming towards the nest. She didn't have long to wait. Two gorilla-like, dark blue-and-silver Metal Heads came loping from the nest oblivious to the danger just over the next sand dune.

"Heh. Easy target," Demon hissed, aiming briefly and pulling the crossbow's trigger. One off the Metal Heads staggered and fell to the sand with a bolt sticking out of its skull gem like some obscene parody of a unicorn's horn. The next second the other one was down too, another through-the-gem shot that Demon prided herself on. Raleigh growled eagerly, leaping a good forty feet in one jump and latching his mammoth jaws around the neck of 'his' Metal Head. Mere moments later the Metal Head was gone.

Raleigh yawned, licked purple-blue gore off his whiskers and growled softly to Demon. The she-elf retrieved her own kill and slid astride Raleigh's back, rolling easily with the panther's gait.

Half an hour passed in silence as Raleigh sprinted easily back to the cavern he called home. Demon sat on his back, mind blank, thoughts absent. How different she was now from the innocent youth that had found herself looking at the gates of Spargus from the outside. How different she was, how changed. Now, her only reason for survival was survival. There was no thought behind her actions, only defense of her home, offence against invading Marauders and the continual hunt for food. There was no room for philosophical thoughts or charitable emotions in Demon's existence. No room for anything other than the untamed beast she had become.

Demon had been cast out of Spargus seven years ago. She had been only nine, a child still- unable to care for herself and doomed to death.

Raleigh skidded to an abrupt halt, nearly knocking Demon off his back. The panther had scented a very odd creature just over the next dune.

Demon vaulted neatly off Demon's back as the panther stopped, drawing her crossbow like many would unsheathe a dagger. She threw herself down onto a sand dune, leveling the crossbow towards her cave. Three bolts were ready to tear off the string of that thing, and Demon was well-known for having a twitchy trigger finger.

Raleigh's nose hadn't lied. A male elf accompanied by a bright orange ottsel stood at the mouth of her cave, and Demon could sense that the short one, the ottsel, was simply reeking of fear. The elf seemed completely unconcerned, but oh, the rat was petrified. Demon nearly gagged as the stiff desert wind blew a gust of fear-laden air directly in her face. Raleigh covered his ultra-sensitive nose with a paw, struggling with the same scent.

"J-Jak? This desert gives me the creeps! Can we GO HOME ALREADY!" The ottsel shrieked. His elf companion merely chuckled softly, the sound carrying to Demon's pointy ears on the desert wind.

"Not until we find that thing that's been attacking the Wastelanders, Dax. What are you afraid or something?"

"N-No. No, of course not," Daxter replied, just a little bit too quickly. Demon nearly grinned, able to see the ottsel's knees shaking from her perch sixty feet away.

"Oh admit it. You're scared half out of your mind," Jak chided, crouching to examine the sandy, print-laden ground. Demon mentally cursed herself for forgetting to wipe her prints this morning- she had been hungry enough to not notice the marks all around her camp.

"Someone was here recently… someone either very tall, or very fat, most likely the former. Said someone also has a very large cat for a pet."

The ottsel's ears drooped comically. "A cat? Oh Lord, I hate cats." Raleigh snarled softly at Demon's side, metallic claws digging into the ground mercilessly. The panther was getting angry, and when Raleigh got angry things were known to die painfully.

"Hey, a cave," The ottsel suddenly remarked, pointing at Demon's well-disguised shelter. The elf immediately drew a yellow-marked gun and aimed it with the ease of long experience. A moment later he lowered the weapon slightly and progressed slowly towards the cave, cautiously ducking into the darkness.

Demon rose from the sand, survivalist mind shifting into overdrive. This elf couldn't be allowed to live, not after all he had seen and concluded. Easily scaling a wall and coming to rest on the very top of the cave's arching entrance, Demon readied her crossbow and nodded nearly imperceptibly to Raleigh. Only a moment later Jak reemerged, gun safely holstered over his back.

Demon's sharp teeth glinted wickedly in the harsh desert sunlight as she rapid-fired seven bolts towards the elf and his ottsel. The elf was thrown flat onto the ground before Demon dropped gracefully from her perch to land in a nearly feline crouch with wrist blades and drawn dagger at the ready. Still grinning evilly, the she-elf crossed to Jak's side, rolling him onto his back.

It was only then that Demon noticed that none of her bolts had made contact, and that Jak's eyes, previously such a pleasant shade of ocean-blue, had shifted to an unholy black.

Demon felt herself thrown bodily a good thirty feet through the air only to crash into a rather unforgiving sandstone wall. Her left shoulder promptly sent bolts of pain searing into her brain, bolts that were quickly ignored as Demon felt hands at her throat.

Jak had never before been so surprised in his twenty-one years of life. Oh sure, he was used to unpleasant surprises, but the last thing he had expected way the hell out here was another elf. He had figured the 'critter' attacking the Wastelanders had been a Metal Head, but… well, this was clearly no Metal Head.

"Who are you?" Jak rasped in a voice somewhere between his normal, slightly harsh voice and his cold, growling Dark voice.

"Yeah!" Daxter seconded, brandishing a small fist in the she-elf's direction. "Who are ya, and why'd ya attack us!"

"Answer me!" Jak roared, letting more of his Dark voice show through. The she-elf just stared back, unafraid, as if daring him to yell again.

"I am Demon." She finally replied, cold and unforgiving as a mountain in winter. It was only then that Jak noticed that this 'Demon' had a tail, claws and vivid crimson eyes. "Now _unhand me_."

Somehow this voice is familiar, Jak realized as he scrutinized the elf all the more closely. She was tall, very tall, well over seven feet and slender, though her arm-baring shirt showed off some very powerful appendages. Scars crisscrossed those muscular arms, evidence of a hard life indeed.

"Are you the one attacking the Wastelanders?" Jak spat, glaring up at her.

"I only kill Metal Heads and Marauders," Demon replied just as crossly. "And foolish little elves who invade my home," She added maliciously.

Jak felt the anger draining out of him. He couldn't condemn an elf for defending her home and sanctuary, could he? Demon had thought he was a Marauder looking for a new home and had reacted accordingly. With a final growl he shifted out of his Dark form and returned to usual, loosening his stranglehold on Demon's shirt collar.

"Why are you out here?" He growled, honestly curious.

"Spargus kicked me out. Where else could I go? Haven? I doubt it. Those bastards would shoot me on sight." Venom was clear in Demon's voice, and betrayal, and Jak found himself wondering what the she-elf had gone through to make her so cold and distant. Abruptly Demon grinned, a vicious smile that sent a cold chill of fear down Jak's back. "You must know your way around the desert well if you could find me this far from Spargus."

"Like the back of my hand. I've lived in Spargus for a long time." Demon found herself relaxing. Clearly this elf had more than his share of honor, and wouldn't try anything.

An awkward silence fell. Demon locked eyes with Jak, trying to place where she had seen him before. Jak, discomfited by the intensity of those vermilion eyes, squirmed uncomfortably and dropped his gaze to the sand.

"If you're looking for the one that attacked your Wastelanders, I'd go back and get some backup. The Metal Heads are the guilty ones. I'd gladly go with you to the nest if you could get me into Spargus."

"Hold it. You said you were kicked out of Spargus. Doesn't that mean you were banished?"

"On pain of death. I was exiled for stealing from the royal treasury, which I never did. I want to get back into Spargus because I have a score to settle," Demon replied in a growl.

"With… who?" Jak queried cautiously. Anger was practically radiating from Demon and the elven man had every intention of finding out why.

"The King." Demon spat.

Jak staggered visibly. The King of Spargus was-no, _had _been- his father, King Damas. Damas had died three years ago, all without knowing that his best Wastelander was actually his own son. Unbidden Jak's hand went to the Seal of Mar pendant hanging around his neck.

"You're out to get even with Damas?" He breathed, horrified.

"Hell yes! That bastard's the reason I spent the last seven years out here fighting for my life! I never stole anything!" Demon thundered, blade-tipped tail lashing behind her like that of an angry cat. Her eyes narrowed to points of ruby flame and those fires pierced Jak right through the heart. He had seen many terrible, awful things in his life, but he had at the very least always had a home of some sort. He's always had a place to retreat to if the world got too dangerous. There had been no such shelter for Demon, no barrier between the desert's cruelties and her.

"Excuse Demon's… ferocity," Raleigh growled as he tackled his friend before pinning her to the ground. "She's had seven years to stew over every wrong in her past, so… she's got some serious anger-management issues." The panther grinned wearily, thereby exposing all of his many sharp teeth. Daxter yelped and jumped onto Jak's shoulder.

"Where'd you come from!" The ottsel screeched in terror.

"Who knows?" Raleigh replied, unperturbed. The panther glowered down at Demon for a moment before finally jumping off her chest and landing gracefully on the point of a boulder.

"Can you get me into Spargus or can't you?" Demon demanded curtly.

"I can… if you'll help me flame those Metal Heads."

"This is gonna be fun," Demon replied, finally showing some enthusiasm. She cast Raleigh a final annoyed glare before entering her cave and quickly outfitting herself with more bolts, minimal armor, a haversack and a longer, wickedly pointed dirk. Then she reclaimed her crossbow and slipped onto Raleigh's shoulders, waiting patiently to show Jak the way.

The elf was waiting in an odd contraption that looked like a metal coffin to Demon. Jak called it a Sand Shark and said it was his main way of getting around out in the desert. He also offered to give Demon a ride, an offer immediately met by a snarl from Raleigh.

"I don't trust cars," Demon replied, casting a dubious glance at the machine. "Raleigh will get me there faster than your vehicle ever could." With that the panther half-reared and bolted into the desert. Jak quickly threw the Sand Shark into gear and chased after the sprinting panther.

Four hours later Demon finally sheathed her dirk and wiped the gore off her face, grinning tiredly but triumphantly. The Metal Head nest was no more, and while that did eliminate a food source it wasn't a major thing. Besides, if Jak kept up his end of the bargain, Demon would never again have to hunt down her own food.

"Heh heh. That's one fried Metal Head nest," Jak grinned, leaning on his Blaster. Feral amusement glinted in the elf's cerulean eyes, mirrored by the half-cocky stance he assumed. Demon shook her head slightly, though she was grinning weakly as well.

"Now… can we PLEASE get back to Spargus!" Daxter demanded.

"Yeah. But how are we gonna get Demon in?" Jak asked aloud, casting an eye over the she-elf he had promised to assist. Abruptly Demon nodded, as if comprehending something that had eluded her for some time.

"I know. It's not easy and I can't keep it up for long, but I can become invisible. Well, not completely, but enough to fool anyone who isn't specifically looking for me."

"Well you're full of surprises," Jak said in exasperation, smiling none the less. "But people are gonna notice if a huge panther just walks into town."

Raleigh cocked his head, grinning in that special way of his. "You said Demon was full of surprises. I am as well. I am, you see, Shadow Eco embodied." With that cryptic remark the panther threw his head towards the skies and shrieked a metal-bending cry that made Daxter dive for cover. Almost immediately steel-grey began pulsing around the panther, quickly concealing his form behind a cloud of mist. When the mist cleared away a tall, slender, strikingly handsome-and naked, unfortunately- elf stood before Jak and Demon, shaking his storm-grey hair out of feral purple eyes.

"Shadow Eco?" Jak said warily. He had heard of and encountered both Light and Dark Eco, but Shadow Eco? What the crap was that?

"Yes, Shadow Eco. It is neither Light nor Dark, can neither heal nor harm. It's also thought of as the most useless of Ecos, because of those properties." Raleigh replied lightly. The elf uncoiled from his feline crouch and stood. More steel-colored mist was coalescing around him, gradually forming into storm-grey clothing and armor.

Ten minutes later Demon was crouched on the back of the Sand Shark, inch-long talons digging into the vehicle's protective roll cage. Her powerful arms corded and bulged as Jak piloted the vehicle into gravity-defying leaps that typically ended with a jarring, semi-controlled skidding crash. The daredevil elf grinned maniacally as the twin machineguns mounted on the front of the vehicle auto-targeted a group of approaching Marauders, blowing them into infinitesimal bits of charred metal and bone.

Finally the gates of Spargus loomed before them, hard and uncompromising as the deserts surrounding them. The gates slowly shuddered open and the Sand Shark skidded past them before fishtailed to a halt. Demon gratefully jumped off her perch, landing in a crouch with her wrist blades out to the sides and ready for action.

"Fire up your invisibility or whatever it is," Jak commanded dubiously. Demon's vermillion eyes snapped shut as the she-elf slipped into a light trance. A haze of dark purple clouded over the elf, and then- she was gone.

"Point the way," Demon's harsh voice ordered. Jak walked to another gate, which opened for him, before leading the way into Spargus' deserted streets. It was early evening, a time most people spent cloistered away from the burning sun, and no one else was stupid enough to be outside.

Demon's heart rate was alarmingly fast, pounding at over three hundred beats a minute. It wasn't fear or nerves that fueled this metabolism boost, simply the invisibility, but it took a lot out of the she-elf. Demon was stumbling with weariness before she had gone more than a quarter of a mile.

"Can I drop the invisibility yet?" Demon snapped at Jak, bracing herself against an adobe building. Flip she hated this damn weakness…

"Yeah. You're safe now or safer anyway," Jak replied tightly. He sensed Demon re-materialize at his back and slowed the pace slightly. He could hear her ragged breathing and puzzled for a moment over her fitness if just a measly quarter mile at a brisk walk wore her out this much.

"Safer? That's not what you'd call reassuring," Demon grinned wearily. Her heart rate had dropped back to its normal, steady thirty beats a minute, but her breath still rasped through her stone-dry throat.

"There's no such thing as completely safe in Spargus," Jak replied.

"There's no such thing as complete safety anywhere!" Daxter corrected from his perch on Jak's shoulder.

Raleigh's eyes were blazing, unnoticed by anyone. The Shadow Eco spirit had been around for millennia uncounted and had in fact helped shape the very planet with his own hands. He had also helped build Spargus from the ground up: he knew exactly where Jak was taking Demon, and wasn't pleased that he would betray her trust so.

One of Spargus' laws was that all outlanders had to prove their mettle within the Arena. Within the walls of the stadium many true elves had lost their lives for nothing more than amusement of a crowd, and Raleigh really didn't want Demon dead. Not now, not ever. Okay, so maybe the 'heartless' spirit of Shadow Eco had a crush… that was his problem! And he still didn't want Demon to die!

Jak nearly smacked himself. He couldn't believe he had snuck an outlaw into Spargus. Come on, he was the Prince for Mar's sake! He had no business breaking the laws of his own city!

But he couldn't go back on his promise. He had said he'd get Demon into Spargus if she helped him kill the Metal Heads, and if nothing else Jak was an elf of honor.

Besides, whether he'd admit it or not, Jak was afraid of Demon… and her claws. He had had no small amount of trouble holding her still even while he was Dark, and that was simply impossible. His Dark form and alter were both insanely strong, it just didn't add up… and Jak hated it when things didn't add up.

_I don't remember Spargus being this big… _Demon thought hesitantly. Her warrior's instincts were buzzing like a nest of riled hornets at the base of her skull, screaming out that someone was out there waiting for her blood. Irritably the she-elf punched herself lightly in the jaw. Well, at least she thought it was lightly, until she felt and heard her jaw pop out of place.

Jak, Daxter, Raleigh and Demon finally made it to the monstrous staircase leading up into the Arena. Demon's long pointed ears suddenly twitched back until they were flat along her skull, rather like that of a cat's. She could smell fear, blood, pain, blood, anger, blood and also blood in copious amounts just beyond the imposing coppery doors in front of her.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me, boyo!" Demon hissed, turning to glare venomously at the elf she had _trusted. _How could she have been so flipping stupid!

"Every newcomer to Spargus has to prove their skills in the Arena. It's one of the old laws. Just get in their, kill everything in sight and you'll be a citizen of Spargus again." Jak stared down at his booted feet, cheeks burning in humiliation. He had never told half-truths to someone before, and his conscience was needling him ferociously.

"Gee, thanks for the warning, boyo," Demon breathed, shaking with barely restrained rage. Her clawed fingers balled into fists compulsively until blood ran freely down her fingers to stain the already-red carpet yet more crimson. Then that wonderfully lethal tail shot forward, wrapping tightly around Jak's neck with the blade hovering only centimeters in front of the elf-man's eyes.

"Hey, you monster! Let him go!" Demon found it odd that such a threatening voice could come from such a fluffy orange rat. She turned her dangerously narrowed eyes towards the ottsel, baring elongating fangs in a feral, murderous grin.

"Let me warn you thus, rat… you are insulting my mother. If by some miracle you live to insult my mother again, your life will be… unfortunately cut short." Demon turned back to Jak and lifted him slightly in the air. She heard his neck pop at least six times as she did this, and found herself taking no small amount of pleasure at the agonizing pain Jak must be in right now.

"I don't like liars. Especially not ones who I trust." With that she just dropped him and went through the doors alone.

A/N: Oh, and also… REVIEW! I put the first chapter of this online just to see if people would like it. If you don't tell me, I won't post anymore, which may or may not be a good thing. So give me feedback people!

And I reiterate myself: flames will be laughed at. This is for my own amusement. If you don't like what I'm doing or how I've reshaped the characters, well I'm sorry. (You don't have to read this ya know…)


	3. Love Hurts

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Jak and Daxter games, though I guess I do own Demon and Raleigh.

Heya peoples! Sorry if I was grouchy when I wrote my intro in the last chapter, but I was typing on four days without sleep and I get really grumpy when I haven't slept enough… but I'm better now, and will no longer be a complete and utter jack-butt. (Hope you understand the pun…)

Yeah, chapter two is up (no crud. Thank you Captain Obvious…) and I really don't think it's that great… don't be surprised if it gets ripped down, rewritten and reposted sometime in the near future.

Warning: This chapter is kinda weird. Some people out there may hate me for what I'm making Demon into, but like I said last chapter this story was never really supposed to see the light of Fanfic. I just needed something to post, so I did…

Now… ONWARD!

**Chapter Two**

**Love Hurts…**

Demon stormed into the Arena with her ever-present dagger drawn and glinting in the crimson rays of the sun's last light. The she-elf was… twitchy. It was almost like someone had force-fed her a few thousand gallons of coffee, at least nine tons of sugar and maybe some pure caffeine too. No, Demon wasn't hyper, just… twitchy. She was antsy, looking for trouble…

Executing a perfect double-jump Demon landed crouched on a platform before a throne-like chair. A tall, dark skinned man was staring askance at her, as if not understanding why she was here.

Demon stood and immediately towered over the man.

"I'm here to earn my citizenship. What do I have to do?"

"Kill twenty Marauders," Came the half-startled, deep-voiced response.

Demon's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Bring it."

The man on the throne threw her a red-marked gun and hit a switch. Almost immediately Demon stood on the Arena floor. She promptly dropped the gun and drew her dirk as a virtual tide of Marauders crashed over her, all armed to the teeth and slavering for blood.

Demon's fighting style wasn't suited to anything but one-on-one or perhaps one-on-two clashes. Now, with a good nine Marauders brandishing swords coming at her as if there was no tomorrow, Demon felt the warrior madness that was her birthright welling within her. She sheathed the dirk with a sharp jab before lunging into the fight with blades glittering.

Blood ran in rivers across the Spargus Arena as Demon cut a swathe through the Marauders. The she-elf lived up to her name, a whirling dervish of steely talons, flashing blades and crimson eyes. Even the battle-hardened Marauders backed down as Demon came upon them, many even going as far to drop their weapons as they attempted to run.

Twenty one desperate rogues entered the Arena that day. One came out. Demon rode the platform back to the throne, scrubbing her eyes clean of blood. Her forearm was sliced to the bone from a miss-parried sword blow; Demon bound the wound shut with a strip torn from her cloak, growing through the pain.

Sig, the replacement King of Spargus (though Demon didn't know it) couldn't believe what he was seeing. Those twenty Marauders hadn't been the Marauders usually sicced on newbies; they had been gladiator-class warriors meant for much better-trained warriors working on their final citizenship badge. Yet this…this _girl!_ - had taken them down without any apparent effort, and _by hand_ no less. There was something unusual and intriguing about her…

"That was… interesting," the one-eyed man remarked.

"Am I a citizen now?" The girl queried icily. Fighting the urge to shudder at the cold anger behind the words, Sig nodded and threw a gate pass and citizenship amulet to the girl.

Demon caught the items wordlessly before spinning on her heel and leaving the Arena. Jak, bruises already forming around his throat, waited only slightly outside the Arena with true concern on his face.

"Are you okay?" He immediately asked, falling into step behind Demon. The she-elf nodded briefly, ignoring the throbbing of her wound.

"No, you aren't. You're bleeding Demon," Raleigh corrected gently.

It was only then that Jak noticed the makeshift bandage around Demon's arm, and the dark fluid staining the cloth.

"Come on, let's go to my place. That looks pretty nasty." Demon nearly growled, insulted.

"It's a flesh wound, nothing more," She spat. "Now lets go pay the King a visit." With that Demon melted into invisibility, leaving a thoroughly startled Jak shouting her name to an empty street.

Demon's recollections of Spargus still held true. She found her way to Damas' Palace without difficulty and quickly sprinted into the lift. She stood there, panting, heart going a mile a minute but still not fast enough to force enough oxygen to her brain. Stars were dancing before Demon's eyes; the thrill of victory was upon her, and it was a dizzying feeling that made the floor seem unsteady. Finally, after seven long years of waiting, Demon would at last have her revenge against the King that had banished her.

Demon slipped off the lift, still invisible with her dirk drawn. The throne room was a work of art, adorned with water features and curving sandstone walls. The beauty and majesty was rather lost on Demon, who merely crept towards the throne. Then she realized…

No one was there.

Demon let down her invisibility and crouched wordlessly in one of the plants that were scattered around the room. She was patient; she would wait. Hell, she had waited seven years… a few more minutes was nothing important.

Little did Demon know that Damas was Sand King no more. She was waiting to assassinate someone who already walked Death's shadowed paths.

Darkness fell, yet somehow Demon didn't notice it. Finally she realized that no one was coming. Swearing like a sailor she left the throne room, randomly knifing a passing Spargus citizen in the throat as she passed the unfortunate man.

"What took ya?" Daxter's voice demanded. The little ottsel glared up at the tall she-elf, fighting an urge to run yammering back to Jak's shoulder.

"The 'King' wasn't there. He should be glad, because when I finish with him he'll wish he never outcast me.. I'll make him pay for his crimes against me…"

"You're gonna kill him then?" Daxter asked hesitantly, ears drooping.

"Don't bother trying," Jak interrupted harshly. "Damas is dead. I saw him go down."

"He is gone then?" Demon was confused. It shouldn't be all that easy for a King, especially one as fit and downright tough as Damas, to die right under his subject's noses. So how had he bitten it-some tragic twist of fate, some illness, or a killer's knife in the night?

"Yes." Jak's voice cracked, betraying the tumult of painful emotions within the young man. Sorrow was first among his feelings, followed by anger and guilt. If he hadn't been so intellectually lacking as to let the Dark Maker robots surround him, Damas would never had put his life on the line to save Jak's.

Demon's unusually mobile ears twitched out and to the side, drooping in unease and perhaps a bit of remorse.

"You ask the worst possible questions at the worst possible times," Daxter accused, jumping onto Demon's shoulder and subjecting her to the infamous and oddly threatening Glare of Death.

"I'm sorry," She replied sarcastically, unrepentant.

"Come on Dax. Let's go home. You're welcome to follow us Demon," Jak monotoned, shuffling off into the darkness. Demon followed at a fair distance, uncharacteristically uneasy about her words. Odd…

Jak's home was a four-room flat near the ocean. It was a small place, but tidy and smelling faintly of something like cinnamon, just enough to put Demon instantly at ease. The she-elf waited outside for a good five minutes before coming in. She found Jak curled in his bed, running a bloody finger repetitively over the blade of a curved dagger. Crimson was slowly trickling down his wrist, apparently unnoticed.

Shaking her head, Demon retreated to the flat roof of the house and examined the wicked gash on her arm a little more closely. The cut smelled faintly of something familiar, something sharp and pungent but pleasant.

Raleigh appeared on the roof a moment later, back in his panther form and clutching a limp kanga-rat in his teeth. "You look lonely," The Shadow Eco spirit remarked after spitting out his rodent prey.

"No more than usual. I'm just trying to figure out what's up with this cut."

Raleigh briefly sniffed at the cut before sneezing violently. "I can tell you that. You're bleeding Dark Eco." The panther's piercing eyes locked onto Demon's, practically drawing blood with their accusing intensity. "You haven't been playing with Dark Eco, have you?"

Demon was dumbfounded. She didn't know anyone stupid enough to even think about attempting to control Dark Eco, herself included: so where had Raleigh drawn that conclusion?

"I've never even seen Dark Eco Raleigh, and why the hell would I be stupid enough to use it? The stuff would kill me in a second flat!" Demon exclaimed.

Abruptly Raleigh's jaw dropped open. The Shadow Eco spirit had just remembered something. There was a Dark Eco well out in the desert… not so very far from where Demon had lived… and Dark Eco had a tendency to seep into the water table. _Oh shit! _

"You look like you just saw a Precursor. What're ya thinking?"

"I'm thinking that you've been altered by Dark Eco without knowing it," Raleigh replied slowly. Then his brain shifted into overdrive, recalling years-old memories and images that until then had been locked away within the recesses of his mind.

"Demon, when exactly did you start noticing that your body was changing?" Demon goggled at Raleigh, stunned by his abrupt intensity.

"About… five years ago?"

"Ksleck. Five years ago, the Metal Heads attempted to destroy a Dark Eco well out in the desert. They failed. All they succeeded in doing was adding Dark Eco to the water."

2 + 2 4. Something clicked in Demon's head.

"And that Dark Eco reached me." There was a note of finality in the she-elf's voice, a touch of determination and resignation that couldn't have said any more clearly that Demon knew she was never going to be 'normal' again.

"Yes. And… well, now we know what Dark Eco does to a person when it's ingested," Raleigh smiled weakly, reeling more than slightly. The poor puzzled panther couldn't comprehend that his friend was no longer just an unusual elf; no, now she had transcended that invisible boundary into the realm of 'creature', rather than 'elf'.

Raleigh's thoughts were displayed clearly on his face. Demon, watching him closely, sighed and leaned her head against her knees. There was no sadness in her eyes, just shock, surprise and perhaps the slightest tinge of anger. She could practically hear Raleigh's thoughts, and she didn't like what she was hearing.

"Raleigh? I'm beginning to think I should never have left the desert. Spargus doesn't trust me, and eventually, the Dark Eco inside me will try to come out… I've got no trouble killing off Marauders, but innocent people? That I don't want to do," Demon whispered. Her eyes stung viciously before Demon grubbed a fist across them and noticed that moisture twinkled on the back of her hand. Then it hit home: for the first time in seven years, Demon was crying.

Tears and weakness went hand-in-hand in Demon's mind- there was no room in her life for either of them. Physical pain was met with a growl, emotional pain laughed at and ignored, and mental pain was nonexistent. Demon had just ignored her own agonies for so long it shocked her that something as simple as a realization that she might end up killing people would make the tears flow.

Dawn found Demon still on the roof, fast asleep and cradled in Raleigh's arms. The transformed shadow panther was grinning quietly to himself, enjoying this moment of closeness with the hold-your-distance woman he loved. He didn't care if she had been touched by Dark Eco, she was still the Demon he had always known, and there weren't many times he could be this close to her and not be afraid for his life. Hell, this was the first time, and most likely the only- he was going to take full advantage of it.

Demon's dreams were vivid and surreal that night. She walked the path of memories back to her youth, but instead of her father a terrible monster was there to greet her as she stumbled back to the hovel she had called home. She ran for her life but in the dream, there was nowhere for her to run. Just when all seemed lost blackness fell and the monster was gone.

But the dream continued. Demon found herself in a blue-walled room surrounded by faintly glowing blue and purple shadows, armed with very real, wickedly curved blades. These shadows slowly surrounded her, pressing the diamond edges of the weapons against her bare, unprotected throat.

Two pairs of eyes appeared behind the blade-wielding shadows, one crimson, the other a glowing white-blue. Rasped words rattled in Demon's ears as those eyes came forward. Two gleaming blades, both glowing orange, appeared at hand height before the eyes.

"**_You and we are one, Koro. Claim the destiny that stands before you… or doom us all to death. We are Light and Dark, and we will help you if only you will seek us out." _**

The eyes suddenly disappeared, replaced by two elves that, while elusively familiar, cut terrifying figures that Demon couldn't place.

Demon had never before encountered pure Dark or Light, and though she kept up a façade of being fearless and unintimidated in reality she was shaking violently. The Dark red-eyed creature came forward, ebon skin and rebellious mane glowing faintly in the light cast by the glowing sword-shadows. The same dim half-light glinted off the thing's horns, talons and tail blade, all of which glowed in their own particular shade of electric purple.

Then, there was the other, the Light alter that radiated an aura of peace, calm and forgiveness. Light's broad shoulders were adorned with feathery wings matching the tail-crest, with more feathers lining her back where only hooked blades grew on the elf of Darkness. There were no talons or blades on Light, no weapons whatsoever, though the runes of Light Eco on the elf's wrists spoke otherwise…

"_You were born of Darkness, just as I was,"_ the Dark elf said in a rasping, multitoned voice that sent shivers down Demon's back. _"You cannot escape your birthright… why fight against the inevitable?"_

"Born of Darkness though you are, there are other powers vying for your allegiance. We will guide you… if you will only reach out and find us…"The Light elf whispered in her soft, silky purr of a voice.

"_We leave you for now… find us, or I will find you and no amount of stitches will close the wounds,"_ Dark hissed, raising one clenched fist to emphasize her point.

"Seek us out, Koro… the fate of the world rests upon your shoulders…" Then the sword-wielding shadows and the elves of Light and Dark began fading into a nondescript blur of grey…

"Wait!" Demon jerked back to consciousness, hand reaching to seize something invisible. The words of Dark and Light still spun in her head, echoing through her thoughts and completely scrambling her sense of who, what and where she was.

Raleigh saw the confusion and panic in Demon's eyes as she came back to. An evil idea occurred to the Shadow Eco spirit, so he leaned down and kissed her.

_WHAM!_ And then the world went slowly black…

Three hours later, Raleigh awoke to find Demon glaring at him with dried blood spattered across her bare arm and enough murder in her eyes to kill a small army.

"You bastard. I wake up from the worst nightmare I've ever had, and you have to go and…you go and try to kiss me!" She hissed angrily.

Raleigh rolled to his side without realizing that this was not exactly the wisest course of action. He groaned faintly as a wave of agonizing pain washed over him drowning his thoughts in white-hot throbs.

"What'd you do to me?" Raleigh moaned, curling into a ball and cradling his head between his knees.

"Punched you, what else did you expect me to do? Nobody but nobody touches me and gets away in one piece," Demon replied irritably.

Jak's face split into a broad, half-pitying grin as he watched the whole encounter from behind a doorframe. He had finally put his finger on the source of the slight frission between Demon and Raleigh… the latter had a crush!

"I feel sorry for Raleigh… almost," Jak remarked, grinning viciously. Daxter was, for once, silent. He merely rolled his eyes.

A/N: Alright, I officially screwed up Sig's lines (both of them…) but I can't write like him to save my butt. Oh well… oh, and please, review! Anything, plot ideas, comments, spelling corrections, et cetera, but please no flames. I don't like flames…

Oh, and I'm going to Seattle tomorrow, so don't expect me to update for a while. (Then again, if no one ever reviews me I won't update anyway… Hold it, is that a good thing or a bad thing?)


	4. Walking On the Dark Side

Disclaimer: All Jak stuff belongs to Naughty Dog. Raleigh, Demon, Rezinhren, Blade and the use of Shadow Eco belong to me.

Heya! Chapter three is finally up and I have to say, this was a _really_ fun chapter to write. The usual warning applies: I didn't write this to amuse everyone, I wrote this to amuse myself. If you read it and review, I'll be forever happy 'cuz no one's reviewed me yet and I'm beginning to wonder if you people are even reading this sniffle. Please review, despite my previous disclaimers I really do value your advice...

**Chapter Three**

**Walking On the Dark Side**

Demon left Jak's home and spent a few hours re-familiarizing herself with Spargus City's general layout. Few things had changed in the timeless city since Demon had been outcast, so there really wasn't much to become reacquainted with. Sure, a few of the old hovels had blown down and been replaced by new ones, but that was just about it, and Demon's photographic memory served her well.

Just like before at the Arena, Demon was getting antsy. Her skin crawled as if covered with ants, her eyes darting from point to point as if expecting an enemy to spring from every shadow. It wasn't a good feeling.

After all her years alone in a desert Demon should have known to trust her instincts more than anything else. Instinct alone had kept her alive for this long, and instinct alone would keep her alive…

Unless she did something stupid.

Of all the random and nonsensical places to suddenly change form, the main square of Spargus City just about had to take first place. Demon was merely standing in the middle of the semi-crowded market square when a peculiar feeling of muted pain clawed into her head. Her temples were throbbing painfully, along with her fingertips and spine. She felt almost feverish, nearly ill, though it couldn't have been clearer that nothing was wrong with her.

Demon was just walking along when the pain in her back redoubled. She staggered in surprised reaction and of course in pain before falling to her knees. People were turning to look, many people, many people horrified by the bolts of pure Dark Eco randomly striking the square. These bolts stemmed from Demon's shaking form, exploding across the market and high into the cloudless sky.

When she finally gave voice to her agony, Demon's scream of pain was the feral roar of an untamed animal seeking nothing more than release. Even pain-wracked, thoroughly distracted Demon could hear that hers was the cry of a monster.

_I told you I would find you, _the half-familiar, rasping voice of the elf of Darkness purred in Demon's head. _Now let me manifest before the Dark Eco I am channeling kills you. I don't want you dead, and I am more or less sure you don't want that either._

**What the…** Then Demon realized she was talking to the Dark elf from her dream, the one that represented Darkness embodied. **When did you get here?**

_Just now. Now, are you going to let me do my job, or are you going to persist and kill yourself?_

**Gee, I wonder. **

_Get out of the way. Now. Or so help me, **I** will kill you **myself**. _Demon felt herself shoved from her own body, shunted into a little-used corned of her mind as the elf of Darkness took her over, body and soul.

Ebon black spread swiftly across Demon's tanned skin, followed by twisting purple and red patterns resembling serpents. Horns sprouted from her brow, foot-long spikes from her backbone and six-inch talons from her fingertips. Only the eyes, bloody crimson through and through, remained the same.

**What are you doing, you crazy-**

_What I'm doing is saving your life._

**What the hell are you! **The elf of Darkness just laughed, an eerie hissing chuckle that sounded so incredibly evil it sent chills down Demon's back.

_Me? I'm only Dark Eco embodied. And my name is… well, you can call me Blade._

**How fitting. An Eco Demon named Blade. **

Blade sighed, a sound similar to that of a fitful wind gusting through a set of iron bars. _Why does everyone automatically assume I'm evil, just because I look the part?_

Demon was ignoring her new alter ego, too busy concentrating on somehow finding a way back into her own body. She wasn't the one in control of her own movements, and quite frankly it made her angry. Demon was a person continually in charge, and it _really_ rubbed her pride the wrong way to, for once, not be in complete and utter control.

Blade was motoring Demon's body towards a less crowded area of town. It was only when no one else was around for quite a distance that the Eco Demon relaxed, leaning back against a sandstone wall and grinning sadistically for no apparent reason.

"_You should be more careful where you transform, Koro… if you're not careful you're going to hurt someone other than yourself."_

**Let me go!**

Blade chuckled again, her rasping hiss of a laugh chilling Demon more effectively than a gargantuan bucket of ice water. "_And whoever said I was holding onto you? You're free to do as you wish, provided you can make me cooperate. Which is highly unlikely."_

**Really?** Demon replied sarcastically.

"_Yes, really. Now, which way out of here?" _

**I have no idea. And why do you care!**

"_Because I, unlike you apparently, care whether or not a lot of innocent people bite it."_ At this Demon growled, baring her teeth in a grimace of anger and pain.

Two hours later Blade finally relinquished control of Demon's body. The she-elf staggered, feeling a new and rather disconcerting strength in her muscles and a throbbing ache in her head. Then she realized, she was back at her cavern home out in the desert…

_There's something you forgot here,_ Blade said emotionlessly in Demon's head.

"You're still here!"

_Do you even have a brain in that thick-as-boards skull of yours? Of course I'm still here, where else would I be?_

"Oh, I don't know, maybe bothering someone else?" Demon replied in a tight growl. Her headache was increasing in intensity, and she still couldn't accept the fact that a thoroughly sarcastic alter ego seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her head.

_Where's the fun in that? It's so much more fun to annoy you. Besides, now that I'm here I have no intentions of leaving. Took me long enough to find you…_

Demon just shook her head, resigned to never fully understanding Blade. She was also becoming rather resigned to the fact that Blade really wasn't going to just disappear.

"What am I looking for?"

_I'd like to know that myself. And you don't have to speak aloud. Just form the thought and send it to me._

**Like this?**

_Exactly. _

Demon's senses seemed better than usual as she crept across the sandy desert floor to peer into the once-comforting darkness of her cave. Nothing had invaded her sanctuary since she had left it, but there was a pungent and elusively familiar scent pervading the air.

_It's hard to believe you of all people lived like this, _Blade remarked out of the blue. Demon jerked in reply, startled by the voice in her head.

**Are you implying that I'm weak?**

_I am implying that you are…unusual. I find it interesting that you should come from such a humble beginning. _

**I wasn't born here ya know.**

_I'm aware. I can see all of your memories… ugh. And I'm not entirely sure I wanted to see that one… _Demon could just visualize Blade shuddering in disgust. All and all it was a truly amusing image.

Eyes adjusted once again to the light and lack thereof Demon stepped into her home, heightened senses stretched to the limit in search of any enemies. She was startled to realize she could hear everything, from the slow, dull thudding of her own heart to the rasp of the wind over the surrounding sand dunes; she could even smell the kanga rats in their dens beneath nearby stones and the reek of something very dead not so far away.

A faint flicker of purple-Dark Eco perhaps? Demon wasn't so sure of anything now- sprang from her outstretched fingertips and towards her weapons stash. Without hesitation Demon dug into the pathetic pile of abandoned and scavenged weapons, looking for anything that wasn't an all-too familiar crossbow or well-worn dagger. Finally Demon's fingers brushed against a slick blade that felt disconcertingly warm against her skin. With an almighty wrench the she-elf tugged the blade out from its hiding place. Needless to say, the unnecessary force of this pull sent Demon flying to land flat on her back with stars in her vision.

_And I was told you'd be as graceful as a panther,_ Blade growled sardonically. _You're clumsier than that oaf Daxter._

**Wait a second. How do you know about Daxter?**

_Why do I have to continually repeat myself? I can see all your memories, including your recent ones. Come on, Koro; put two and two together…_

**You know what? Shut up. And my name isn't Koro.**

Blade snorted rudely. _Well EXCUSE me. So sorry I have offended you, Mistress Thick-skull…_

**I said it once, I'll say it again: SHUT UP! **Another bolt of Dark Eco snapped from Demon's fist as she roared the last two words in her head, and the blade she clutched flared suddenly with an intense red-and-orange blaze.

**You know what? Ow,** Demon spluttered. Glowing lines had seemingly been inscribed on the insides of her eyelids, an after-effect of the blade's glowing aura. The riotous colors burning into her eyes made her head hurt.

_Get up,_ Blade ordered coldly, completely ignoring whatever pain had reached her. _Now._

"Fine, bossy-lady," Demon remarked aloud, hoisting herself to her feet. Her grip on the blade tightened compulsively until with a slight yelp Demon dropped it. Blood was seeping from her palm, which was bisected by a thin, surgically precise gash.

_That is very interesting, _Blade remarked, sounding only slightly interested. _Now are you going to hold the thing properly or am I going to have to do it for you?_

**Thank you… mother. Now leave me alone. I don't need your help to wield a sword. How hard can swordsmanship be?**

Blade groaned, and an image of the Eco Demon smacking herself in the head flitted into Demon's mind. _A lot harder than you seem to realize. Now get to it already, we don't have all year._

Demon's warrior-sense and instincts all said this sword was trouble. Against her better judgment Demon wrapped her sweaty fingers around the hilt of the blade and lifted it from the ground.

Then the world dissolved in a series of flickering, distorted images seen through another's eyes…

_Flash! _Demon saw an elf eerily familiar to herself, minus the fact that this other elf had dragon's wings sprouting from her back and a red-blazing sword in her hand, standing in the midst of a battlefield with drawn sword raised. The elf shrieked a metal-bending battle cry that echoed dismally across the blood-drenched field. No one returned the challenge and the elf grinned evilly, accentuating the four scars across one eye.

_Flash! _The scene changed, flashing to a raw-boned brunette woman with the same sword sheathed at her side. Once again the elf seemed familiar, elusively so. Perhaps it was the swift, measured stride, the restlessly roving eyes or even the slightly rebellious, thoughtless air that surrounded the woman, but Demon felt oddly connected to this new elf…

_Flash! _This time it was a man, wielding the same glorious blade against a throng of attacking Metal Heads. The same familiarity bound Demon to this man, and she noticed that he too, just as the previous elves, had slitted eyes that seemed to bore straight into your soul and lay your memories bare.

_Flash! _Another woman, this one blonde and almost dangerously curvy with the same crimson-glowing sword held point-down in her hand, stood facing a mob of angry elves in red armor. Demon knew beyond any doubt that the red ones were Krimzon Guards- how she knew this not even she could say, but she knew. A hostile, calculating grin flitted across the blonde's face, revealing sharply pointed canines.

_Flash! _The room was dark, the blackness defied only by the faint, guttering light of a single candle. A female elf clad in wickedly spiked black armor sat by the candle, deep green slitted eyes never leaving the gleaming edge of the blade she sat polishing. At the elf's touch red runes flared along the blade, proving it to be the same blade the previous elves had wielded. All was silent, still and peaceful; crickets chirped somewhere in the background and a soft, sighing night wind mingled with the twitter of nightbirds and the distant murmur of a nearby river.

Abruptly the stillness was broken as a male elf dressed in starlight-colored armor appeared from the shadows, a silvery-blue-glowing sword appearing in his hands as he stormed towards the tent.

"You lied to me, Koro! You lied!" the elf-man shouted accusingly, pointing not a finger but a faintly glowing sword blade towards the female elf. It occurred to Demon that the voice was somehow familiar…

The red blade came up in a lightning-fast parry, blocking the vicious stab and showing both elves with sparks.

"I do not ever lie, Mar… I spoke only the truth, nothing more…" Sudden fire blazed in the she-elf's eyes and she expertly twisted her own blade, wrestling the silver blade from Mar's hand. "The truth you were too blind to see!"

_Flash! _There was a different feel to this vision, a tense, coiled feel that sent a chill down Demon's back. The same two elves from the previous vision, the ones identifying themselves as Koro and Mar, stood back-to-back besieged by Metal Heads. The two swords, pulsing wickedly red and blue, hissed through the cold winter air in perfect harmony. Every strike was in perfect control and under perfect direction, always slamming into the proper target.

Mar and Koro fought brilliantly, yes, but every warrior must at one time fail in the line of duty. One of the lowly Metal Head Grunts managed to dodge past the interweaving blades and dug his claws into Koro's side, deluging himself with hot blood. The warrioress elf staggered and collapsed to her knees, the now-familiar red-marked blade slipping from her limp grasp to clatter, glowing runes fading, to the floor. Mar battled on, tears blurring his vision, before he too was overwhelmed. Bleeding from a dozen wounds, Mar knew too well that his death was upon him and though he despised that fact, he knew his duty had been done well. The elven lands were more or less safe… besides, death was not an ending, not a failure, simply a transformation and the continuation of the journey. If he was to fail now, he would do so with a clean conscience.

Mar joined Koro on the floor, handsome face calm and lit by a final half-smile. It was the look of a man forever resting in Death's embrace, a man at peace with the world and all who dwelt in it.

_Blood to blood, ashes to ashes. It seemes death isn't so permanent these days, _A softly accented male voice said inseide Demon's head.

**Who the hell are you! **Demon sputtered, disbelief practically written in bold letters across her face.

_Rezinhren. I suppose you could say I am the spirit of the sword._ Demon sat down, hard. One alter she could handle, but two? This was going to get messy…

**Who and or what are you?** Rezinhren chuckled quietly, grey-green eyes sparkling with amusement in Demon's mind's eye.

_No one of importance. I am an elf just as you are, and before I fell I was one of Koro's bodyguards. When she died she left her blade to me, and somehow my spirit became bound to that of her sword._

**What's the sword's name?**

_Darkflame, _Rezinhren replied immediately.

_I will caution you, elf,_ Blade's voice interrupted harshly, _that I am the ruler here. Not you, not the foolish one, but me. If you don't like it I suggest you take up the matter with my claws._

_I need no title or power, Eco Demon,_ Rezinhren said coolly, _just a pupil to teach and a sword to wield._

_Have it your way then. But I warn you: do not get in my way. You will not like the consequences if you disobey me. _

**Blade? Who exactly died and made you Queen of the Universe? Last time I checked _I_ was the owner of this body. And lay off Rezinhren. Face it; he's the better fighter no matter what you say otherwise. Don't look at me in that tone of voice, it isn't nice.**

_Says who I care about nice, Mistress Thick-skull? _

_Cease. You two fight like an old married couple, and you're making my head hurt, _Rezinhren commented mildly but commandingly.

_And just why should I listen to you! _Blade roared in rebellion.

_Because if you don't, I may end up hurting you._

_Is that a threat!_

_No, it is a mere statement actually. Now do be quiet, I believe we're making our host's head hurt, not to mention my own._ Rezinhren was correct; Demon's was pounding like a drum.

**My name's Demon. Now both of you shut up. I need to find a way back to Spargus. **

_And leave Darkflame behind? I think not. _

**Rezinhren, did you honestly expect me to just leave a weapon sitting out here when I was dragged by an Eco spirit out here to get it? Of course I'm taking the sword. Now let me think. Please.**

Demon cast a last glance around the cavern she had called home, gathered up a few more quivers of bolts and left. As she did this she noted a new weight across her shoulders; a black-metal sheath emblazoned with flame-colored runes matching the ones across Darkflame's blade had appeared at her back. Demon shook her head and sheathed the sword, wondering how on earth she was ever going to put the thing to use.

Four hours, nine Metal Heads and two furious arguments later Demon finally staggered back into Jak's home. The other elf wasn't there, off on some princely errand that Demon didn't much care about. She barely had the energy to haul herself to the couch before sleep overtook her, drowning all thoughts in comforting shadow.

Demon did not sleep well. 'Not well', as in waking up every five minutes yelling. It seemed that Rezinhren's past was even more blood-drenched than Demon's and his memories of death, blood and pain invaded her dreams with a vengeance.

By the time the sun went down Demon just gave up on sleeping. For a time she sat on the too-soft couch, drumming her leathery fingers on one knee, before restlessness overcame her. The only problem was, there wasn't really much to do in Spargus, especially not when everyone was armed to the teeth and very dangerous indeed.

**I never thought I'd say this… but I am bored!**

_What a surprise. Now will you shut up? I'm trying to sleep._

**No fair. If I can't sleep neither can you.**

_Just you watch me, girly. _Demon had a sudden mental image of Rezinhren casually wandering over to Blade and kicking her brutally in the gut.

_I believe I quote you: shut up. Demon, if you are looking for something to do I could always begin teaching you to use Darkflame._

**Eh, what the heck. Sounds like fun to me. Where do I go, what do I do?**

_If we were back in Haven I'd say head for the Forest, but clearly that is no longer an option._

**It never was an option.**

_I am aware. Now, let's see… all we need is an open space with good footing._

**And no innocent bystanders to get slaughtered when I mess up.**

_I hardly think that you will err- Darkflame came to you for a reason. So off we go._

So... yeah. That's chapter three, whaddaya think? Let me know (message, review, I don't care I just want feedback! And ideas would be nice too) and I'll update. If you people don't let me know... I might stop writing this! (Don't make me do it...please?) REVIEW ME! Oh, and sorry about messing up everyone's character... I can't write likeanyone other than myself it seems.


	5. Broken Heart and Shattered Sword

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill… I don't own Jak and Daxter, but I do own my OC's and hopefully the plot.

Warning: Corad (thanks for reviewing by the way ) you may hate me after this chapter. Read on, if you dare…

This chapter has definitely earned it's T rating. It involves death, bloodshed, sexual references and a brand new enemy for y'all to despise… (okay, so he's not as evil as Errol, or is it Erol? Off topic… anyway, the villain makes an appearance.)

Think and review as you will… and thanks BloodHeron, CoradandBijoux and TheZ for reviewing me. You people give me continuing reason to write and torture my characters!

**Chapter Four**

**Broken Heart and Shattered Sword**

As it turned out there was no good place to practice sword-fighting in Spargus. After all, the city relied mainly on guns and lasers to protect themselves; the sword was an extinct weapon.

By the end of the day Demon still hadn't even drawn Darkflame and her head was, once again, pounding like a kettledrum. Blade would not shut up for anything this side of the Eternal Realms, and Rezinhren had his hands full just trying to keep her in line. Poor fool, he wasn't exactly succeeding either…

Demon glowered down at her booted feet, as if those two innocent boots were the source of all that was evil and malignant in the world. She couldn't quite place the distinct feel of unease that plagued her. It seemed to Demon's unusual ears that a high-pitched, thin whining echoed throughout Spargus, and it set her teeth on edge like no other.

**Both of you, put a cork in it. Now, am I hearing things? Do either of you hear that… that _ringing_?**

_All I hear is a couple of fool elves who don't know how to properly venerate a Dark Eco spirit such as myself, _Blade replied cuttingly, crossing her arms over her chest in an expression of utmost arrogance and defiance.

_All I hear is an annoying weakling who may meet a sticky end at the point of my sword, _Rezinhren shot back, accompanying the statement with a flourish of a blade he had pulled from somewhere.

**Ugh. This is not gonna be a fun life.** Demon stuck one finger in one of her ears and jiggled it vigorously, trying and failing to shake the ringing from her ears.

"Enough," She finally growled. "I'm going home. And Blade? Shut the hell up. Now." For once the Dark Eco spirit did as she was told, falling silent with an angry glower in Rezinhren's direction.

Daxter was lazing on the couch at Jak's home, dreaming of female ottsels, food and whatever else sleeping ottsels dream about. Demon brought him rudely back to the waking world by deluging him with cold water.

"Hey, buddy, do you have any earmuffs around here?"

"No. We live in the middle of a desert. What good are earmuffs way out here?"

"Alright, I'll try again: do you have any cotton balls?"

"Yeah, in the bathroom. Why?"

Demon glared at the ottsel, only slightly cross-eyed. "If I can't get rid of this ringing in my ears I think I'm gonna lose my mind. And when I do, you'll be the first thing to die."

Daxter folded his arms across his chest. "I'd be amazed if you could even hit me. I'm not called Orange Lightning for nuthin'!"

Jak walked in, appearing oddly pale and haggard. His clothes were rumpled, his eyes deeply shadowed and his ears drooping, lending him a melancholic, woebegone and forlorn air.

"What Metal Head took a dislike to you?" Demon demanded. Jak just looked at her out of hollow, lifeless blue eyes.

"None that I know of. I'm just not feeling my best. And someone's coming towards Spargus."

"How do ya know that?"

"It's part of being the prince. I can feel everything inside Spargus. More of a curse than a blessing, really… that's not the point. Someone's out there, but they're smart enough to stay away from the scouts I sent out…"

Abruptly the whining in Demon's ears multiplied tenfold, becoming more of a threatening roar than an irritating hum. The she-elf staggered before dropping to one knee, bracing herself against the floor with her hands over her ears.

"Demon? Are… you okay?" Daxter queried, coming to stand in front of Demon with true concern in his eyes. Demon gazed blankly at him like an elf with no soul, pain blotting out every thought she had ever had.

Abruptly something exploded through the wooden floor of the living room- something large, spiky, winged and undoubtedly dangerous. Jak knew beyond doubt that this was a foe beyond him, for that matter beyond anyone he knew. There was only one option for getting rid of this thing and it was one that didn't appeal to him much… but sometimes an elf has to do what an elf has to do in order to survive.

It was so easy, almost too easy, to reach for the Darkness that had awoken within Jak after his two torturous years of Dark Eco experiments. All he had to do was think of Damas, of the times he could have had with him, and rage rose unbridled within him.

Snow-white spread across Jak's skin just as his already-dark eyes shifted to a pure, evil black. His fingernails lengthened to talons, horns burst from his brow and an aura of purple lightning surrounded Spargus' prince.

"Who goes?" Jak hissed, his voice once again the low, ripping-silk snarl of his Dark form. The thing in the living room just laughed a bone-chilling chuckle that rattled Jak's ribcage.

"My name is not for the likes of you to know… you may call me the Messenger. I come bearing news from my master, Lord Zasz. He wishes to speak to you face-to-face without delay."

No emotion showed on Jak's face, though confusion boiled in his mind. He had never heard of any Lord Zasz, and despite his bravery one thing Jak feared was the unknown.

"You can just tell your master that I don't wish to see him then," Jak returned fiendishly, grinning in a sharp-toothed, dangerous sort of way.

The Messenger snarled and took a threatening step in Jak's direction. It raised one huge, taloned hand and brought it rushing down as if to either capture or crush Jak.

Halfway there, the hand collided with a certain red-runed blade, wielded by a certain royally pissed she-elf. Demon bared her teeth in victory as the Messenger howled its agony, three of its fingers falling to the ground in a pool of greenish-brown gore.

"Leave, Messenger. Return to your masters sulking in the shadows, or the first life taken by this blade will be yours!"

Messenger drew back, cradling its bleeding hand against its chest. "You shall pay for that, foolish elf," Messenger snarled. Demon grinned in reply, baring her fangs and crouching with her blade across her knees.

"Bring it on."

A thoughtful, pensive light came into Messenger's cold black eyes. It seemed almost curious, as though testing Demon's resolve.

"I could kill you very easily," it rumbled. Demon just shook her head, completely unafraid.

"I'm aware, but in order to kill me you'd have to catch me. And face it, as large as you are there's no way you'd be able to. Plus I'm armed, you're not. When it comes to weaponry, I win."

The Messenger shook its head in amazement. He had never met a mortal not afraid of it, and the revelation disturbed him.

"Beware, elves. The storm is about to break over this city. Flee while you can, or death will be your reward." With that the Messenger dissolved in a cloud of black fire, leaving its severed fingers on the floor.

Jak struggled back into his usual form, once again locking away the anger that seemed to be an everyday part of his life since Damas' death. Demon watched his internal battle with cold eyes, sword still held easily, threateningly, by her side.

"So I'm not the only one with a Dark side," She finally remarked. There was no emotion in the she-elf's ruby eyes, just an icy professionalism that bordered on soullessness. Jak shuddered uncontrollably, transfixed by Demon's glare.

Abruptly a crossbow bolt soared through the window and slammed into the wall, leaving just the fletching visible. The all-too-familiar sound of distant gunshots mingling with the shrill screams only produced by pure, unadulterated fear floated through the open window.

Demon and Jak just looked at each other. Messenger's last words to them hadn't been a threat, but a warning.

Creatures were marching on Spargus.

Under waving pennants bearing a blood-drenched black sword on a white field came rank upon rank of … of _monsters_. Bristling spearpoints stretched as far as even Demon's eyes could see in every direction, yet not one of them was moving. It was one of those frozen moments where even the wisest has no clue as to what to do.

A tall male elf in black spiked armor came forward from the ranks of snarling beasts, bearing two flags: first, the white banner of peaceful approach, second the bloodstained black sword ensign that appeared to be the symbol for this group.

"Bring out your leader, elves." The elf commanded, planting the two banners in the desert soil.

Demon didn't like this elf. And when she didn't like someone, she had a tendency to be rash and foolish. And, she tended to take over situations when she was feeling rash and foolish.

"Bring out our leader? I think not. If you talk to anyone it will be to _me._ Now say your bit or clear out. You're defiling my desert, and I don't appreciate it." Demon spat menacingly. The man on the desert floor growled audibly, apparently not enjoying being talked down to by a female.

"Listen, _girl,_ if you're the leader I'm an ottsel. Where's the King?"

Demon's ears had gone flat back against her skull. Murder rose in her crimson eyes, murder, bloodlust and pure fury. Her hands clenched until the talons drew blood, dripping onto the sandstone wall she stood upon like red diamonds. Out of nowhere she vaulted to the top of the wall and loosed a feral, enraged shriek of defiance and fury.

That wall Demon stood on was well over a hundred feet high, yet somehow the height never really registered in Demon's head. She just jumped off, landing a moment later in a perfect crouch with Darkflame drawn and held threateningly against the neck of the man who had insulted her.

"I could kill you, you know. But I won't do it. Taking your pathetic life would be an insult to my blade. Now. Why are you here? And why did you bring your pitiful little pets with you?"

The armored elf glared at Demon with eyes crimson enough to challenge hers. "Why am I here? I'll never tell. Why did I bring my pets? To destroy you all." Then the elf high-kicked, boot colliding solidly with Demon's nose. Cartilage cracked, audibly, and a tidal wave of crimson exploded across Demon's hollowed cheeks. The she-elf promptly fell over backwards, multicolored stars dancing in her vision. Concussion was immediate, not to mention very painful…

The armored elf stripped off his helmet, revealing an oddly handsome if deathly pale face marred only slightly by a jagged scar running from temple to chin. Casually he unbuckled his spiked gauntlets, letting the wicked weapons drop to the sand, before putting a heavy-booted foot on Demon's chest. Then he leaned down and ran one long, boney- and _clawed!-_ finger along Demon's blood-slick cheek.

"What a pity… you're such a pretty little thing, even with all the blood... and here I was ready to kill you for talking back," The elf breathed softly, finger traveling lower into what Demon officially classified as 'no-touch-on-pain-of-death' territory.

"Just kill me. Get it over with," Demon replied hazily. Right about now, what with all the butterflies in her head, death would just about be welcome…

"Oh no, I can't kill you. Not yet. I haven't had my fun yet…" And miraculously, amazingly, Demon's head cleared. Her hand found her dropped blade in a flurry of motion and the next instant a gaping slash had appeared in the armored elf's gut.

And what did the elf do?

He stood there.

And he laughed.

Demon crouched on the sand, a bloody blade clutched in her shaking hand, and watched the mad-elf as he cackled to the skies. The sand beneath him was slowly turning even redder…

"Heh… fool. You think a sword can kill the likes of me?" Demon growled and lunged, stabbing with the sword towards the elf's chest. The blade went… clean through. As in, sticking out the elf's back.

"No. I'm no elf. I never was mortal. Remember the name Zasz when you think of me. Now… where were we?" The not-an-elf wrenched the blade from his chest and threw it to the sand, where it shattered like brittle glass. Zasz ran one finger down Demon's cheek before tilting her head up and leaning closer to do something Demon was immediately sure she would not enjoy. Zasz's malicious vermillion gaze bored into her red eyes, and she realized that there was more than a bit of lust in those eyes.

So she took her only option and bit the finger touching her.

Zasz drew his hand back, now short one pointer finger. Demon spat said finger out, growling through bloodstained teeth.

"Now you've made me annoyed," the not-an-elf remarked mildly. Then he literally picked Demon up by the throat and threw her, not just into the air… but over the wall and back into Spargus.

Raleigh, standing watch where he had been all day- on the cannon tower in the bay, completely and sadly alone- noticed that an oddly large bird was flying very low over Spargus' outermost wall. Then he noticed that said bird had arms… no wings… black hair… a bladed tail…and… oh no.

"Unless I'm a kanga-rat that's no bird," He growled, jumping to his feet. Then he was off, shifting to his feline form in mid-stride.

No stranger was Raleigh to death, but when it came to his friends- or in reality, _friend,_ singular- death petrified him. It felt to Raleigh that he was walking into his worst, most dreaded nightmare when he finally found the not-a-bird he had seen from the cannon tower.

It was Demon.

The she-elf lay twisted onto her side, her own Dark Eco-laced blood forming a black pool around her. Her lithe, willowy limbs lay still, forbiddingly so, limp against the ground and bent at unnatural angles. But her face… oh gods her face… was peaceful, not pained in the least. Raleigh shook more than slightly, struggling to place where he had seen that serene, calm look before. Then it slammed into him with all the force of a freight train. It was the look of an elf at peace with the world, an elf forever drifting on the tides of death beyond the light of life.

Raleigh was fully elven and crouching, cradling Demon's broken body in his arms, when Jak and Daxter finally found him. Silent, unnoticed tears flowed down the Shadow Eco spirit's disbelieving face, tears mixed somehow with blood.

"Who did this?" were the only words Raleigh could choke out before he lowered his head, slender shoulders shaking with barely contained sobs.

"We don't know," Jak replied hoarsely, barely keeping his own dismay at arm's length. The realization that he had just lost… a friend? Or was Demon just an ally? Or was she something more than that? Fate had robbed Jak of the chance of ever finding out- hadn't really sunk in yet. It probably never would.

Raleigh had long known that eventually his friendship with Demon would come to this. He was, after all, immortal, while Demon was destined to eventually die. He had resigned himself to this fact long ago… but to lose his only friend, his all, _his _Demon, to have her so violently ripped from his side… It hurt, stung more profoundly than the burn of a dragon's breath or the cold bite of a razor-edged sword. Nothing could match the burning, aching pain throbbing dully in Raleigh's heart and soul.

The sun was casting its final red rays over Spargus. Red… red, like blood. It seemed even the sun had its respects to pay, a fact that stabbed into Raleigh's heart like a poisoned dagger. There was no denying it… Demon was beyond reach now.

Raleigh wanted to cry… again… but there were no tears left in him, only a throbbing, burning ache that no amount of Green Eco could heal. Yet somewhere under all the pain and shock a hard kernel of pure fury laid hidden deep.

Seeing nothing, feeling nothing, Raleigh laid Demon's body straight upon the sand, gently closing her glazed red eyes with one finger. Task finished, he sunk to his knees beside Demon oblivious to the world. There was nothing left for Raleigh now, no reason to live, nothing to fight for.

"What's the point of it all? Just when it seems all will eventually come to rights… I lose everything. Am I simply destined to be lonely? Fated to live on forever, never befriended, never anything more than a ghost in the night?" He whispered to the unfeeling evening. How familiar these lamentations were, how cursed but inescapable…

Slowly Raleigh raised his head to the sky, loosing a keening howl of grief, loss and mourning. There would never be another to walk beside him, never another to pat him on the shoulder and tell him that somehow everything would be alright…

Never again would there be anything completely concrete or unquestionable in Raleigh's mind. There would always be questions that he couldn't answer, all the more because of Demon's demise. But of one thing he was sure: Demon would not go unavenged. Iron resolve flooded into Raleigh's broken heart, lighting blazing fires in his amethystine eyes.

Demon's murderer would not escape. That he had to believe.

A/N: So whaddaya think? It was kinda hard to write this considering how fond I've grown of Demon, but… yeah. You'll see why I'm not crying next chapter… Oh, no, I'm not evil, whatever gave you that idea?

Oh… REVIEW! (please)


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